


Invenire

by RedHawkeRevolver



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, Enemies to Lovers, Intrigue, M/M, Pairings to be added, Romance, Smut, Tags In Progress, Wartime Romance, emotional smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2018-11-10 02:42:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11118204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedHawkeRevolver/pseuds/RedHawkeRevolver
Summary: Ignis loves Tenebrae, his country, and he loves Ravus, his king. He must not fall in love with Gladiolus Amicitia, the Shield of his enemy.





	1. Tenebrae Rising

Ignis wiped blood from his hands as the cell door slammed shut behind him. His King was waiting in the dimly lit hallway with Captain Aranea.

Aranea eyed the blood suspiciously. “He still alive in there, Specs?”

“What do you take me for?” Ignis asked, annoyed at the suggestion. “I am no hack, Captain. The prisoner spilled significantly more information than he did blood.”

“And…?” Ravus demanded impatiently.

“Your Majesty, I’m afraid this goes deeper than we originally thought. We need to speak somewhere more private.” Ignis nodded his head at the cell. “General Glauca’s deceptions are... _extensive_. The Captain should hear this as well. I have much to disclose.”

Ravus’s metal arm creaked as he clenched his fist. The sound made Ignis wish he’d drawn more blood from Glauca in retribution for his crimes. Or wish he could spill his own blood in penance for not being able to protect his King from the grievous injury.

“We have momentum on our side, Ignis. There is no information that _filth_ could have that would deter me from taking Insomnia. The boy king has been cowering behind his wall since word of our victory reached his ears. We have felled an _empire_. His petty magic will prove a far lesser challenge, crystal or no.”

Ignis bowed his head. “As you say Majesty. But I know you would seek to preserve the lives of your people if possible, especially now that Tenebrae is once again guided by its rightful monarch. And it has been a long war.” He closed his eyes against the remembered images of strife that got them to where they now were. But closing his eyes never made them go away. "Given what I have just learned, I believe a different strategy may better serve our goals.”

“Ugh.” Ignis glanced up to see Aranea roll her eyes. He adjusted his spectacles on his nose only just avoiding rolling his own eyes at her as she spoke. “Alright boys, if we’re talking politics here, can we at least do this over a drink? Or many drinks.”

It was not often Ignis agreed with Aranea, but in this instance she had the right of it.

Ravus turned and marched down the corridor, his armored boots clicking on the stone with each heavy step. Ignis and Aranea followed silently. As they climbed up from the basement levels of Fenestala Manor, the mold and damp that permeated the underground air gave way to the clean smell of sylleblossoms. The scent of them had grown bittersweet to Ignis in the years he’d fought alongside his Prince, now King, to cast aside the Imperial usurpers. Now that Tenebrae was free and Ravus’s rule stretched from his ancestral home all the way across Shiva’s frozen tundra to Gralea, the flowers’ unique aroma had turned into something entirely different to Ignis. Something more than simply fond memories. Something he wanted to preserve and protect. He felt the same way about his King.

Ignis had never been to Insomnia. He’d not spoken to King Noctis since before he ascended his throne, when the boy was but a child too young to target with blame. Perhaps he was still too young. It mattered not. Ignis would follow Ravus down any path. More than once they’d travelled down a road Ignis thought might lead to hell, but they’d yet to hold court with the Infernian.

Lady Lunafreya was waiting for them when they crossed the gardens.

“May we speak, brother?” The Princess of Tenebrae and the youngest Oracle in an age wrung her hands and cast her eyes down to follow the line of Ravus’s sword hung at his hip. Pryna sat calmly at her feet. A few steps behind Lunafreya stood her friend Prompto, who bowed as they approached. Umbra sat at his feet, looking up at Ravus with intelligent eyes and a pointed lack of deference. Ignis was quick to hide the bloodied rag and his still stained hands behind his back, out of Luna’s sight.

The hard lines of Ravus’s face relaxed as he addressed his sister. He took her hand and kissed her on the forehead. “My apologies, I must hold an urgent council with my advisors. Shall I find you later when I’m finished?”

“I...yes, please, whenever you can. Thank you.” She appeared as if she wanted to say more, but after she glanced hesitantly at Aranea, Ignis knew she wished to keep whatever was on her mind among family. When Luna’s eyes moved to Ignis he nodded with an unspoken assurance that he would make sure to bring her to Ravus the first moment the King could see her privately. Luna smiled at him in thanks and stepped aside to let them pass. Ignis hurried to keep up with Ravus and Aranea while still chancing a glance back at Luna and Prompto. The two were huddled together and whispering with furrowed brows and thin lips. Prompto was idly petting Umbra with one hand and in the other, Ignis only then noticed, he held a small black notebook.

He lost sight of the pair of friends and the pair of dogs as they approached the statue of Queen Sylva. As was his habit, Ravus stopped to pay his respects to his mother, the fallen Oracle, who had saved her son’s life and died as a consequence. The King knelt and Ignis joined him. Aranea folded her arms across her chest and stared up at the sky while she waited for them.

As Ravus prayed for blessings, Ignis looked down at his clasped hands. The blood dried under his fingernails disgusted him. So many things about the world disgusted him, but there was very little any of them could do about it. They’d done the best they could with the hand they were dealt and they would continue to do so. Ignis closed his eyes, but he could still see the blood. So much blood. So many years of it. He tried to fight back the memories but they came to him anyway, as they always did in the quiet moments.

~

_Ravus watched his mother die in his arms. Ignis held his Prince's hand at the funeral, hidden behind their backs. Many people died that day. The day the empire planted its flag in Tenebrae and crushed the Kingdom of the Oracles under its boot. All at once the titans of Eos were snuffed out. Queen Sylva, King Regis and his Shield, all of them gone in a flash of treacherous imperial gunfire._

_After that day, Ravus cared for his sister as best he could and Ignis did his best to care for Ravus. The three of them stayed alive and stayed silent, but in their hearts they silently rejected the foreign rule imposed upon them and obediently bided their time._

_When the First Son of Tenebrae joined the military at the behest of the conquering emperor, -keep your friends close and your enemies closer- Ignis stood at his Prince’s side in public, tenacious and ready to serve him in that as well. In private though, they swore together on gods they no longer believed in that they would win back Ravus’s kingdom._

_Ignis followed his deposed Prince into each and every battle. They drew their weapons together for an empire they loathed to fight against the Lucians and their boy king who they loathed even more. The coward of the crystal, hiding behind his wall. They had always blamed Regis for bringing the wrath of the empire upon them, for demanding Tenebrae harbor his wounded son. The Lucians only knew how to protect themselves. Even before he died that terrible day, Regis made sure his son, and only his son, was evacuated safely, spirited away by the Lucian Chancellor as if by magic._

_Those left to the mercy of the imperial war machine, those innocents of Tenebrae left to stand against the enemy, had no magic with which to fight, only their blades and their bodies. Ignis fought for Ravus, so that Ravus could fight for his country. All the while, they planned and plotted and Ignis did what he could to aid and advise his rightful ruler as he’d been raised to do._

_It wasn’t long before Ravus grew strong._

_On the battlefield, his men called him indomitable. He bled alongside his soldiers, suffering wounds that Ignis often mended himself in the night, over hushed words and unanswered prayers. Ravus advanced in positions of power until he was the High Commander, fueled by bitter ambition and the drive to steal back his stolen destiny. He won the trust and loyalty of the army and once he had that, Ignis organized them behind a secret banner, away from prying imperial eyes. Before long, the words ‘Tenebrae Will Prevail’ were whispered in all the shadowed corners of the empire._

_Soon, their time came._

_When the emperor ordered his high commander to assault Insomnia, Ravus brought his army to the gates of Gralea instead. Ignis never left his side in the fight for the capital, matching his friend’s attacks against their foe blow for blow, ready to lay down his own life, that Ravus might be spared and be able to rule as he was meant to. Would that Ignis offered up his arm to the greedy gods instead for he was unable to save Ravus from that fate._

_Ignis fretted over the devastating injury his King had suffered at the hands of General Glauca and he searched diligently for signs of the scourge but the blood of the Oracle would not succumb to the dark so easily. In time, the wound healed and in the place of flesh Ravus wore metal, but he would not be cowed or deterred by loss of limb alone. He had survived infinitely worse, he said._

_Ravus Nox Fleuret took back his title and captured a new one. To his people, the King of Tenebrae and now Emperor of Nifelheim, was dauntless. He had overthrown a distant and decaying empire and promised a war torn populace that he would breathe new life back into their lands and bring to justice all those who had wronged them. All those who had wronged_ him _._

_~_

It was late in the evening when Ignis found himself hovering behind Ravus on the balcony of the King's private quarters. He watched the other man pace, then stand and gaze into the distance, then pace again, flex his metal fist and repeat the process over and over for the better part of an hour.

Ignis did not speak so as not to intrude upon his thoughts. He’d given the King all of the information he had and his best council regarding what their next move should be. Aranea hadn’t had much to offer in terms of strategy. The former mercenary was a broadsword, not a scalpel.

They _wanted_ to storm Insomnia. To bring the Crown City to its knees in a satisfying physical way. They wanted to end the decadent, selfish, corrupt Kingdom that had watched the rest of Eos burn with indifference from inside the lofty towers of the Citadel. In recent years even the Lucian people themselves were abandoned at the outskirts while their King protected only _his_ capital with _his_ crystal.

But a war with weapons cost lives as Ravus knew all too well. They had new intelligence now and knowledge was a weapon that would spare innocent blood yet could still crumble the old order. If they dared act on it.

After another period of prolonged silence, Ravus went back into his rooms and sat at the edge of his large bed. Ignis followed and stood to the side, waiting. When the King leaned forward, his head falling into his open palms, Ignis finally spoke.

“Majesty, for what it’s worth, I believe the information I extracted from Glauca to be truth: that King Noctis has actors in his court that may be trying to unseat him from within. The power of the Lucis Caelum dynasty has been waning since the age of his grandfather. They’ve been so preoccupied with premonitions and omens for decades, they’ve ignored the very real plight of the common citizen. Claiming to be the King of Light matters little if most of the world has already succumbed to suffering and death. We simply need to understand whatever this secret enemy’s endgame is if we are to manipulate things to our own benefit. Eos needs a King who has proven himself a leader, not one who can barely hold his own Kingdom together, even after given every advantage.”

Ravus rubbed at his eyes, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Ignis’s speech. Ignis decided he had pushed his friend as much as he was willing to for one night.

“If you wish to take your mind off the problems at hand for a time, Your Majesty, I’ll remind you that Lady Lunafreya wished to speak with you.”

Ravus sighed deeply but didn’t lift his head. “She hasn’t been sleeping well. She’ll be up quite late, I will see her tonight. I would rather not speak with her like this.”

 _Like this._ Ignis knew what he meant. Tired, put upon, strained and pressured. _Like this._ The weight of the crown was heavy, and Ravus wished to protect his sister from seeing its effects on him. She bore enough burden in her position as Oracle. The position she inherited from their dead mother. At the core of it, they were all orphans of war. Ravus had never properly mourned the former Queen nor was he able to mourn the life he could have had, cosseted by birthright, a sovereign indulged by the gods. Instead those gods abandoned him and he had to be something else. Subversive, single-minded, cold and militaristic. It was only Luna and Ignis who saw rare glimmers of the thoughtful, noble boy that might have grown into a very different man.

It was, perhaps, only Ignis though who _loved_ Ravus Nox Fleuret for both the good and the bad of him.

“As you wish your Majesty. Would you like to be alone for now?”

A long pause. Ignis waited patiently.

“Stay for a little while, Ignis.”

The two said nothing more to one another and did not speak further about the difficult decisions that needed to be made. The same problems would be there in the morning. Would they wage war with their armies or mire themselves in a different game where the costs may be even greater? They were questions better left for tomorrow.

Ignis stayed and sat next to Ravus. He reached out and held his King’s hand. He leaned in and kissed his King’s lips. He gave of himself, all of himself, without reservation or thoughts of self-preservation. He loved Ravus and he would always, but he could never truly have Ravus. For a King belonged to his people. 

They lost themselves in one another for a short while, heated bodies burning off heated emotions that had no other outlet. Ignis could give him this and hope, as always, that it was enough to keep his King going along the path he must walk with a clear head and a quieted soul.

When Ravus was spent and asleep, Ignis left him as he always did. He would never sleep for long. Too soon he would wake, but at least he would have had some small amount of rest. Ignis knew he would find his sister then, and they would talk. It would give the King another bit of respite from the trials of rule. And then, upon the rise of the sun, it would all begin again. 


	2. Return to Me

Ignis brought the bottle of Altisian brandy to his lips and took a long swallow. He exhaled through his nose, blowing out the sweet scent of the heady spirit. It was probably too early in the day to be drinking, and he could probably easily fetch a glass but he cared very little about courtly propriety at the moment. When Aranea entered his office, he handed her the bottle. She sat on the edge of his desk, crossed her legs and tipped it back into her mouth.

“Well? Did he tell you if it actually exists? Or where it is?” He asked as Aranea passed the brandy back to him.

“Nope. And I’m pretty sure he has no fuckin’ clue.”

Verstael was proving a tougher nut to crack than Ignis had anticipated and he’d already anticipated that quite a bit of work would have to go into the man’s interrogation. Ignis was certain all of Glauca’s admissions were fact, as far as the man knew them to be. The two-faced general had been covertly communicating with a source inside Insomnia and though this person’s actual identity was unknown, they had secretly been feeding the empire intelligence and strange technology for years. Not the least of which was the basis for the MT army. And apparently Glauca had also caught wind of some kind of scientific advancement that could render the Crystal’s magic null. Unfortunately he knew no specific details. If Ignis was going to strengthen their hand he needed more.

“Perhaps I should try and speak with him myself.” Ignis looked Aranea up and down from the curve of her crossed leg bobbing seductively, to the curve of her breasts rising and falling with her breath. He raised an eyebrow. “Your brand of persuasion does not seem to be getting us the results we’re looking for.”

“Hey there, don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it.” Aranea winked at him and mimed a kiss. “Seriously though, let me know if you wanna try it. I’m always game, loverboy.”

“No. Thank you.” _For the thousandth time_ , Ignis thought to himself.

“Fine, fine.” Aranea waved him off. “You know, the more quality time I spend with you and His Royal Sourpuss, the more I think you’re fucking him.”

Ignis was stone faced and silent.

“Or the other way around?” Aranea probed. “Both maybe? Come on, give a girl a fantasy, huh?”

Ignis ignored her. “I find it hard to believe Verstael is telling the truth about his ignorance when he knows the only reason he is alive up to this point is because he was able to make the King his magitek arm. You would think he’d at least make it seem like he had some sort of information, if only to lead us on and stay alive another day.”

“How about a threesome?” Aranea continued on with her own conversation.

Ignis sighed and took another drink, but then Aranea said something on topic.

“Look, it’s not like you’d be thrilled if there actually was some special anti-magic whatever hidden away in a Nif weapons lab. I know you two can’t stand all this magitek. I’m shocked Ravus even agreed to use that arm.”

“The King will do whatever it takes to protect his lands and his people. And we only need the _threat_ of assured destruction to bring Lucis to heel, we don’t have to use it. I would prefer, however, that the threat not be a bluff.” Ignis was beginning to fear it would come to exactly that.

A knock at the door interrupted them. Aranea hopped off the desk and opened the door to admit Lady Lunafreya. The two women smiled and nodded at each other, then Aranea excused herself.

“I’ll try one more time with our friend, Specs. Maybe I’ll take a page outta your book and see if it gets me anywhere. See ya.” She waved and left them.

Ignis stood and offered the Oracle a chair. “How may I be of assistance My Lady? Were you able to speak with His Majesty last night?”

“Yes, I did speak with him but…” Her words trailed off. She looked down at her hands where she held them neatly folded in her lap.

Ignis urged her on. “My Lady?”

“I spoke with him, but I’m afraid I did not discuss what I’d meant to. He looked so tired.” She frowned and Ignis opened his mouth meaning to reassure her, _falsely,_  that Ravus was not neglecting his rest but she continued. “May I be candid with you Ignis?”

“You know you can always tell me anything.” Ignis considered Luna every bit as much a sister as Ravus did. She clearly had something difficult to say and he wanted her to be comfortable speaking with him. If he could help her, he would.

“You know that Noctis and I were very close when we were children.”

Ignis nodded his head slowly. Luna’s bright eyes looked up into his, unblinking.

“We continued being friends since the day our parents died, and we remain so.”

Ignis maintained his calm expression, but he very much wanted to hear an elaboration of her perilous statement.

“We are able to speak directly with one another despite the distance and circumstances between us.”

He must have let his composure slip for a moment because she quickly qualified.

“Our communications are private, meant only for us and they have neither been seen nor influenced by others. And you know I hold no information about the military so I am at no risk of sharing secrets.”

Ignis believed her but he was still holding his breath.

“Noctis has been unwell. I worry for him, Ignis. The toll the magic of the Crystal takes on him is immense. The wall he maintains that protects his city is killing him. He won’t admit to it, but I can tell. He wants peace as much as we do, I’m sure of it. But I believe someone or something is working against him and with the burdens of the Crown, I fear he may not have the strength to fight his enemies inside his own house while he thinks he must also fight Ravus.”

She detailed to him how the two childhood friends had passed a notebook, born by Umbra, between them back and forth for years. They shared their thoughts, their pain, their joys, though it seemed the joys were few and far between.

Ignis tried not to dwell on the fact that all these years had passed and this was the first he’d heard about this communication between Bahamut’s favored King and the Oracle. It was obvious Ravus knew nothing of it either. Had the two of them been so shrouded by war and revenge, like hoods pulled low over their eyes, they’d failed to see how desperate Luna was for some sort of connection to who they’d all once been? How she’d suffered her losses silently, while they had at least been able to _fight_?

Luna paused and took a deep breath. “Please, Ignis. I’ve told you all of this so that you might help me convince my brother to set aside this war. He has already won back his kingdom and captured the empire. There is no amount of vengeance now that will heal the old wounds. We must look forward and we must help one another. Noctis is the King of Light and it is my duty as Oracle to help him. The scourge does not recognize the banners we fly in battle and the daemons plague us all whether we be of Lucis, of Tenebrae or of Nifleheim. I have no skill with strategy nor will I claim to know exactly where our path ahead lies. I only know that I must help Noctis.”

Ignis absorbed the implications of Luna’s impassioned entreaty. He had no intentions of refusing her but he had to find a way to honor her request and still honor his loyalty to his King.

“Will you allow me time to speak with your brother alone about this?”

When she smiled, a small corner of his heart, that hadn’t yet frozen as solid as Shiva tits, warmed. Luna stood and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you Ignis.”

~

“You’re fucking kidding.” Aranea looked from Ignis to Ravus, as if the King would humor her ridiculous question. “He’s fucking kidding right? I can never tell.”

Ravus didn’t answer her. He simply continued to sit.

“Unlike you, I would not be insolent enough to waste the King’s time with _jokes_.” Ignis turned to Ravus. “Your Majesty, I see this as the perfect opportunity.”

Ignis had been completely honest with his King about the things Lady Lunafreya had told him. For a moment he hesitated at the gamble of involving Aranea in his plan, but she was loyal and had never given them any reason to think she was not completely committed to their cause of stamping out the oppression of past regimes. When Ravus invaded Gralea she could have thrown her hat in the with Emperor. It would have been the better bet, but Ignis knew that in her heart, if she did indeed have one, she wanted to do the right thing. It was Aranea’s fleet that turned the tide for them in that battle. And she’d always been nothing but true to her promise to fight alongside them. Even if she did it with a forked tongue. Though if Ignis was pressed to admit it, he appreciated that Aranea spoke her mind.

“And who exactly is gonna be taking your little offer to King Noctis?” Aranea folded her arms and cocked her hip out.

“I will. I am the logical choice. Lady Lunafreya assures that he will remember me and he will believe I speak for the Nox Fleuret’s. I will go alone, offer the treaty terms, and I will make it clear their only choice is to let us into Insomnia by marriage or we will use our plundered imperial technology to negate the Crystal and end their magic.”

“The technology we aren’t even sure exists? Ignis, you either have the best triple triad face ever or you have the biggest balls ever to think you can pull this bluff off without getting executed and getting your dead ass thrown back outside the wall.”

Ravus, who had been quiet while Ignis and Aranea exchanged petty quips, finally spoke. “My sister says Noctis’s magic is waning. Now is the time to act, from a position of our strength and their vulnerability. She believes many things about the duties of the Oracle that I do not hold with but she would not exaggerate a situation so desperate. We will proceed with Ignis’s plan.”

Aranea was still not convinced. “Does she even wanna marry Noctis?”

Ignis clarified for the mercenary. “A political marriage has nothing to do with desire. Technically speaking, her willingness to marry the King of Lucis is irrelevant, however we would never make her actually go through with it if she did not wish it. It will ultimately be up to her if our gambit should succeed and we are able to absorb the crown city under Tenebrae’s control.”

Ravus appeared to finalize the decision in his mind and issued orders. “Make arrangements and leave immediately, Ignis. The captain will continue the interrogations of our prisoners and she will forward you any new information she can extract. I would see this business of destruction done so that we can begin to rebuild.”

“Guess I’ll get a transport ready for you then. I’ll send you with Biggs and Wedge. They’ll have your back if it turns into a cluster fuck. _Which it will._ ” Aranea saluted, if irreverently, and left them.

Ignis straightened and addressed Ravus formally. “I will endeavor to serve you to the utmost of my ability, Your Majesty, and keep the interests of Tenebrae and the safety of the Oracle paramount in my dealings with the Lucian crown.”

“Do what you can to ferret out the traitor Noctis seems to have had under his oblivious nose all these years but take care with how much you reveal about our knowledge of it. Even if they accept this treaty, the Lucians are not our friends.”

Ravus rose and turned away to gaze out across Tenebrae from his balcony. “Godspeed, Ignis.” He said as a dismissal.

Ignis didn’t leave right away. He wasn’t sure what he stood there waiting for. A parting gesture? A tender moment? _Ridiculous_. There was work to be done and no rest to be found in war. Yet, he lingered and his eyes wandered to the tips of Ravus’ human fingers hung loose at his side and the jagged contours of the metal fist clenched at his other.

Ignis hid a hitch of his breath as he imagined how the sword roughened skin of Ravus’s real fingers felt against his cheek and tangled in his hair, boldly gripping and insistent. He shivered when he imagined the cold metal of the magitek arm pressed against his spine, pressing him into sweat drenched sheets. He allowed himself to savor those remembered sensations but he knew his place and he knew his role. He stepped away and was nearly out the door when Ravus spoke again.

“Ignis. Go to Lucis. _But return to me_.”

Ignis didn’t question the chain around his neck as it was tugged back, subtle but strong. _He welcomed it._

“Always, Majesty.”

~

“Noct, come on, you gotta get up. Some shit’s going down in the council room.” Gladio started flipping on lights and opening curtains. It was mid-morning and Noctis was still asleep. He watched his King toss around in the bedsheets and blankets, struggling to sit up.

He moved to the bed to help. “I know it’s rough Noct but we gotta be there now. I don’t trust any of these assholes anymore.”

Noctis sat, then accepted a hand to help him stand. He stretched in the sunlight that streamed into the room. “Thanks...I didn’t really mean to sleep so much.”

Gladio grimaced at the dark circles under his eyes and his thin, drawn features. Gladio wished he would just let that _fucking wall fall._

“I know. I wish the mornings weren’t so tough. And I wish you’d tell me when you feel like shit. We shouldn’t have sparred for so long yesterday.” He was always torn between wanting Noct to be as capable a fighter as he could be and wanting to do his job as his Shield and take on every fight for him. Unfortunately the fucking Crystal was only interested in sucking the life out of Noctis so that was a battle Gladio was unable to take on for his King.

As Noctis got dressed, Gladio noticed his sword, Regis’s old sword, propped against the wall by the bed. “Noct, what is this doing here?” Gladio was sure he knew what the answer would be but hoped he was wrong.

Noctis stared back at him looking guilty. “It’s getting harder to summon it. And I was just too tired after sparring last night.” The King took his sword, closed his eyes and focused. It disappeared in a flash of light, but Gladio saw him wince as he did it.

It _killed_ Gladio to see him like this. He knew Noct wanted to be the King his father was and he tried, _gods help him he fucking tried_ , but the gods had stopped helping a long time ago and there wasn’t any other help on the horizon.

They were still at war and Ravus was showing no signs of letting up on his path of destruction. Gladio was sure the day was approaching when the King of Lucis would have to use both his sword and his magic to keep the kingdom alive. If there was anything left of him to do it.

They made their way through the corridors of the Citadel, passing servants, Kingsglaive, and Crownsguard. All of them bowed and greeted their King. _All of them were worthless._ None of them knew the extent to which Noctis was saving their lives single-handedly, every minute of every day. Imperial airships hovered constantly, just waiting for any shimmer of weakness, any chink in Insomnia’s armor.

Cor was waiting outside the council chambers for them.

“What’s the story?” Gladio asked, as he looked up and down the hallway. Cor’s loyalty would never be in question, but there was literally no one else Gladio could say that about.

“The flagship of Ravus’s fleet pulled up to our front door outside the wall but they just parked, no gun barrels in sight. Someone approached the guard at the city gates and handed them a letter. An actual handwritten letter. For the King.” Cor looked to Noctis. “Chancellor Izunia has it, Your Majesty, and he called the council in. No one has opened it yet. They’re waiting for you.”


	3. Where Loyalties Lie

Ignis had the short blond cornered.

“Prompto,” he said calmly, “Why don’t you just tell me everything one more time.”

The Oracle’s unlikely but steadfast friend squirmed under Ignis’s gaze. If Ignis exaggerated the hard edge of the stare he aimed through his spectacles and down his nose, it was entirely on purpose.

“Aw come on dude, I really don’t know all that much.” Prompto scratched at his head and shifted his eyes around the cramped sleeping quarters he’d been assigned on the airship.

Ingis glanced out the single small window. The sun was already setting, casting bronze and orange hues across the sky. It was setting earlier and rising later every day and Ignis would swear it was worse the closer they got to Insomnia. Not that it mattered to those sheltered inside the sprawling city. The power of the Crystal fueled their days and nights both. Like a star brought down from the sky to dwell on the surface of Eos, King Noctis’s metropolis was brilliant and bright and even more intimidating than Ignis feared, but he would not be cowed by a thing of concrete, metal and magic. He’d learned long ago that _will_ was all that was needed to win. Will and guile.

It had been two full days since they landed outside The Wall and presented the guard at the gate with Ignis’s handwritten and sealed letter, addressed to the King of Lucis.

“Is it possible Noctis is trying to verify our intentions with Lady Lunafreya before responding to my request to meet with him?” Ignis pressed. He was getting impatient having nothing to report back to Ravus and he was anxious to obey his King’s last order to him to return. The cold and empty bed of an airship hovering above foreign lands was a long ways away from his country, _and his King’s touch_. Waiting outside the Crown City was doing nothing but irritating him. The very fact that the damnable place still stood, gleaming on the horizon, when all the rest of the world was war ravaged was an affront to justice.

Prompto shifted on his cot. “I dunno, they have their own thing going. I don’t think they talk much about political stuff. All I know is she really cares about him and she’s worried.”

“Did she insist you accompany me so that you could report back to her what transpired? Does she not trust me?”

Prompto groaned and started going pale, but Ignis refused to relent.

“Prompto…”

“Okay okay, look, did Luna ever tell you how we met in the first place?”

“I fail to see how this is relevant but it was in school was it not?”

“We were in the same class, yeah, but I didn’t really talk to her. I didn't talk to anyone. One day I was walking home alone, like always, and there was this dog by the side of the road. He looked like he hurt his foot so I took him home and fixed him up. He was really cute. I couldn’t just leave him there. Anyway, after he healed, he just up and left. A few weeks later he showed up at my door again with a letter in his mouth.”

While Prompto’s tender-hearted animal rescue story was mildly endearing, Ignis raised an eyebrow at him, urging him to get to the point. Prompto took the hint.

“It was from King Noctis. I thought it was a joke, but it’s not like there was anyone who’d bother to play a joke like that on me. The letter thanked me for taking care of his dog since it was the only way he and Luna could talk. He said he cared about her and was worried because he didn’t know if she had anyone looking out for her so he asked me if I would. I didn’t do anything about it at first, obviously, I mean it was crazy right? I was literally nobody. But it made me pay more attention to Luna, and she just seemed so sad all the time. Even when you and her brother were around, I could tell she really didn’t have anyone else to talk to either. So despite the fact that she was a freakin’  _princess_ and I was exactly _nobody_ , I decided to shape up and try to be friends with her. And when we finally started talking she told me all about Noctis and Umbra. Look man, I dunno how in the world King Noctis knew who I was or why he needed _me_ , _a total freaking stranger_ , to be friends with Luna but he sounded so... _lonely_ and so sincere. I guess...I guess I just really wanted to help him. Help _them_. So Luna asked me to come in case I’d have the chance to meet him in person. And she wanted me to tell him I’ve done a good job looking out for her like he asked.”

Prompto blushed at that, and though Ignis found it _utterly ridiculous,_ he didn’t comment and let him continue.

“Luna said he’d appreciate it. She also says he’s not like how you and King Ravus make him out to be.”

“And how do we make him out to be?”

“Like he’s the enemy.”

Ignis was incredulous at the absurdity of that answer and he let it show. “He _is_ the enemy. We are at _war_ Prompto. King Noctis has acted against _our_ King at every turn. His father abandoned Ravus and Lunafreya after watching their mother get slaughtered. And even now he ignores the hand we are extending to him.”

“His dad died too! He was just a kid, it isn't his fault!”

“You do not even know the man, Prompto. I find it disturbing that you are suddenly now a defender of him.”

“But he really cares about Luna and…”

“And what?” Ignis cut him off. He was getting angry now. He may have been the one to suggest this course of action that withheld their guns and armies but it was still his goal to see Ravus sit the throne of the Lucii in Noctis’s place and if they ultimately had to fight to accomplish that he would be the first to volunteer for the front line. Prompto was edging dangerously close to treason and that was not something Ignis could excuse without consequences.

Prompto must have seen that he was pushing Ignis to a place neither of them wanted him to be pushed to. He shrunk back and spoke softly. “ _And_ I just don’t think _he’s_ our enemy.”

Ignis paused. There was something about the way Prompto cast his eyes downward and fidgeted with his shirt sleeve that still looked suspicious. Ignis’s interrogation of Glauca hadn’t yielded a name or even a description of the person or entity who might be working against Noctis from within his own kingdom and what Luna had described to him from her direct communications with Noctis was even more vague. If she knew more or if she’d allowed Prompto to be privy to more information, Ignis needed to know _immediately_.

“Are you _certain_ that King Noctis has never discussed the politics inside Insomnia or the war with Lady Lunafreya?”

Prompto stood and looked him in the eyes. Ignis appreciated the forthrightness of the action and he appreciated that Prompto did not back down from the direct question. He was one of very few people that Ignis felt could be trusted. He didn’t want to be forced to think otherwise.

“She’s never told me anything specific Ignis, I swear. I just know she’s desperate to get him help. He’ll meet with you. I’m sure of it. And when you see him, please, for Luna, figure out a way to help him.”

A small part of Ignis wished he still had room in his heart to help someone he knew was as much a victim of their forebears’ war as Ravus and Luna were. But it hadn’t been Noctis who wept silent tears against his shoulder looking for comfort in the middle of the night and it hadn’t been Noctis who held his hand and kissed his lips, soothing every loss and celebrating every triumph over years of hardship and friendship. Now was not the time to surrender to weakness. Not when everything they’d fought for was so close at hand.

“My loyalties are with Ravus, Prompto. _And only Ravus_. Never doubt that.”

There was nothing more to be said so Ignis turned on his heel and walked away.

~

The former Lord Regent, and Chancellor Ardyn Izunia read the letter aloud to the entire council.

The sound of his voice grated on Gladio’s ears like a daemon squeal.

_“The Lady Lunafreya Nox Fleuret, Oracle of the people, beloved of the gods, bids that the King of Light, Noctis Lucis Caelum, grant urgent and exclusive audience to the Lord Chamberlain of HM King Ravus Nox Fleuret of Tenebrae, Emperor of Nifleheim and first son to the sacred line of Oracles.”_

“That’s a lotta fuckin’ titles in one sentence.” Gladio mumbled.

Cor snorted softly.

And then the arguments started. Some of the council members shouted. Some stood up and shook their fists. Some slammed the table with their hands in emphasis. Some silently nodded their heads.

Noctis sat back in his chair and listened. Gladio knew he heard every one of them even if they all thought he was just bored. Ardyn, on the other hand, stood at the King’s left shoulder and smiled the whole time. After a few minutes of chaos, the Chancellor spoke up.

“Now, now everyone, please. The final decision, _as always,_ rests entirely with our King. What says His Majesty? Will you meet with Ravus’s lapdog? I’ve heard tell he’s grown up to be a cunning one, but fear not Your Majesty, I will assure he is unable to sow the seeds of whatever underhanded plot he and his master have contrived.”

The yelling started up again but Ardyn kept smiling through it all. It didn’t take much longer for Noct to get fed up.

The King of Lucis stood. Only Gladio noticed how hard he gripped the arms of his chair to push himself to his feet.

“Enough!” Noct was getting better at making his voice boom like his dad’s used to. And like how they used to listen to Regis, the council listened to his son. They all shut up and they sat.

Noct continued in a lower voice. “I am aware of the pros and cons of this meeting. I will give my decision shortly. You may all go. We will reconvene in the throne room when I command it.”

Gladio looked around at the faces across the table. None of them had the stones to meet their King’s eyes. Slowly everyone filed out of the council chambers, their remaining unspoken objections loudly plastered across their gutless frowns.

When he, Cor and Ardyn were the only retainers left in the room, Gladio waited for it.

“I need to think.” Noctis announced. “And clear my head. Gladio, Marshal, please prepare the main training hall for me for a sparring session. I’ll meet you there after I speak with the Chancellor.

Gladio knew the code. He nodded at Cor, they bowed to their King and they left to wait for Noct. Anytime he wanted to talk to either of them alone, he hid it behind physical exercise and an excuse to ‘clear his head’. Not exactly ideal given that Gladio wished Noct could just rest and not have to work out just to have a private conversation, but otherwise Ardyn or someone else was always up his ass. And it was the only time he was sure Noct was getting good advice when Cor gave his opinions.

Noct would probably blow some smoke up Ardyn’s rear end before he joined them. They all learned a while ago to play nice with the Chancellor. In all those years before Noct came of age and Izunia acted as Regent, he managed to stuff every bureaucrat in the city in his pocket so no one was willing to go against him. Gladio was pretty sure that, if given the chance, Noct could run Insomnia just as competently as Ardyn, but he knew not many people thought that. They still saw Noct as a pampered Prince, unfit to fill the big shoes of his father and grandfather before him. None of them saw how hard Noctis trained or how he limped back to his bedroom every night to read over council notes until he fell asleep face down at his desk. No one ever noticed how he winced and fisted the hand that bore the ring of his ancestors as if it hurt to have it touch his skin. Or how he sometimes had to cover his ears and squeeze his eyes shut when in the presence of the Crystal to try and block out whatever it was that thing was doing to him.

For the millionth time, Gladio wished they had someone else to rely on, someone in the council, or just someone who was good at all these godsdamned politics to give them some advice and give Noct a break from having to worry about watching his back. Someone like their dads.

Cor read his mind as they rounded a bend on the way to the training hall. “Your father hated politics. We’d be no better off if he and Regis were still alive.”

Gladio glared at him. “Were you this fuckin’ negative about everything when you served them?”

“Yes. And I was always right.”

Gladio wanted to say something smart back at that, but it was probably true. “So Noct shouldn’t meet this asshole Chamberlain then, right?”

They entered the training hall and Cor ordered the few Glaives inside to find somewhere else to spar. When they were alone again, he answered Gladio’s question but it wasn’t the answer he wanted. “It seems as if the Chancellor already decided this meeting is going to happen.”

“You think he wants to talk treaty with Ravus?”

“Ravus would never make a fair deal. You’ve never fought the man. He hates Lucis. He thinks we betrayed his country and killed his mother. Same thing goes for that Chamberlain. His name is Ignis Scientia. His family has served the Nox Fleurets for centuries. If you think you’re loyal, trust me when I say your loyalty to Noctis is a passing fancy compared to the loyalty Ravus commands from that one. Where Ravus goes he goes and what Ravus orders he sees done. No matter what. We can’t trust this meeting but the King will have to go through with it anyway.”

And then Cor said what only he would be brave enough to say out loud. “We might have to hope they offer terms. It may be the only way out of this war for us.”

“Terms? As in ‘of surrender’?” Gladio couldn’t believe they were actually talking about this but he knew it needed to be talked about. He was glad Noct hadn’t shown up yet.

“I don’t like it any more than you do, but Regis believed that Noctis had a destiny. He can’t fulfill that destiny if he’s never even given a chance to. War never gives anyone a chance to do anything worth doing and war has never been kind to the Lucian Kings in particular. Lucis is behind the eight ball here and Noctis may be young but I think he knows that. And you and I aren’t worth much when it comes to advising a King but we owe it to him and we owe it to the memory of his father, and yours, to be honest.”

Gladio let out a slow breath through puffed cheeks. “So fine, Noct meets this Ignis Whatever, hears the terms and then what? He just gives up his throne? Drops the wall?”

Gladio bit his tongue, suddenly ashamed of where his thoughts were going. He couldn’t look Cor in the eyes. While that all sounded impossible, a part of him, that he would never admit to, wished that could all just happen. He wished Noct could live a normal life, live the way he wanted, find some friends, play video games and go fishing. Take off the damn ring and get some actual godsdamned sleep for a change. Gladio would be perfectly happy protecting Noct from nothing more dangerous than a few bugs and some oversized reptiles at the Vesperpool. And he’d love to hear his King complain about camping out in the wilderness instead of worrying over where the hell they were gonna put all the refugees camping out in the streets.

Noctis walked in then, his head held high until the security guards outside shut the door behind him. When it was just the three of them, he tore off his Kingly raiment, letting it fall to the floor, and he slumped his shoulders. He looked back and forth at their faces. They clearly hadn’t done a good enough job at guarding their expressions.

“You two arguing about how fucked we are?”

Neither of them batted an eyelash at their monarch’s crass greeting. He was the damned King and he could say whatever the hell he damn well pleased to his two most loyal Crownsguard.

“Because Ardyn thinks we’re pretty fucked.” He continued. “But he says it may be worth it to hear what they have to say. Or to find out what the game is.”

“Always with the fuckin’ games.” Gladio complained. “We’d be better off going to Tenebrae ourselves and taking the fight straight to King Ravus. Or Emperor Ravus. Or whatever the fuck he’s calling himself now.” He knew that was both dumb and unrealistic but an actual fight would certainly feel good for a change.

Cor was a little more stoic than Gladio, and a lot less bitter. Or maybe he was just better at hiding it. “So will His Majesty be meeting with Ravus’s envoy then?”

“Don’t think I have much of a choice, do I? And besides, I remember Ignis a little from back in Tenebrae. He was quiet and he was always really nice to Luna.”

“War changes people Your Majesty. It is likely he is a very different man now from the boy you remember.”

“Yeah. Well. So am I.” Noctis straightened the crown at his ear, picked his raiment up off the floor and slung it back across his shoulders. He’d let himself have a few seconds to shrug off the weight of the world and talk frankly to the only friends he had, but he readily took that weight right back on like he always did without being told.

“I’m going to grant ‘Luna’s’ official request for an audience. Marshal, I want you to go yourself to the city gates, get the Chamberlain, and bring him here to the Citadel.”


End file.
